Reach For The Stars
by nicoleherondale
Summary: Jace is in love with her. Fiery red hair, the most enthralling emerald eyes, artistic fingers than can capture every detail of life and his handsome face, and that adorably big smile. Sure, she is frustrating sometimes, but she is perfect. The problem is, she is his stepsister and she has a boyfriend. Clace, Sizzy, Malec, AH.
1. one

**A/N: **Hi everyone! I mentioned something about writing a new story since Happily Ever After is almost done, and this one is actually just House of Cards renamed and rewritten. You could call this the better version, but it's up to you to decide (if you've read the old version)

Anyway, thank you for clicking on this story! Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately I do not own The Mortal Instruments :c

* * *

-x-

_Prologue_

Jace couldn't think of, or imagine a time when he hadn't loved his little sister. _Step_sister.

The first time he had ever saw her, she was a baby. She was lying in her teddy-bear cot, dressed in a onesie, with stunning green eyes and soft patches of red hair starting to sprout from her soft head.

Jace was only about two, so the only thing he could do was gurgle, and try to reach out for his stepsister with his chubby hands.

Michael Wayland let him stroke her hair tenderly. Clary giggled, eyelids starting to droop. He was surprisingly gentle, for a strong two-year old baby boy that usually got into trouble during playgroup.

His father already thought that he resembled a lion, with his curling blonde hair and blazing gold eyes. Michael was sure Jace would be a very handsome boy when he was older.

Jace's father had divorced his wife and had came to marry a woman named Jocelyn Fray, and even for two-year-old Jace, he hated it. He missed mommy and the smell of her hand lotion, but at least he now had Clary.

She always smelled like floral baby powder and fresh blankets.

Michael carried him away. He started to cry, waving his arms frantically up into the air, but from that moment until then he knew he had fell in love with Clary.

Brotherly love. Sibling love. And that was yet to change.

Every day he would come back, watch her, stroke her, feed her, play with her and take care of her until she was old enough to take care and do all of those by herself.

She was redheaded, cute, short, freckly, artistic, he could go on and on. She was just his little stepsister— Until she wasn't.

-x-

_Three Years Later_

The only thing Jace looked forward to was coming back from kindergarten and seeing his little baby sister. Well, she wasn't so little anymore, being a four year old, but she still loved sleeping in her cot. The beautiful emerald eyes would then open and she would giggle, say his name and reach out for him.

"Jace!"

Jace swung her in his arms, rocking her back and fourth as he switched on the TV and to _Barney and Friends. _He secretly despised the show, but Clary loved it and insisted that he put her in his lap when she watched it.

Jace was already strong, for a five year old, and loved playing with his four-year-old stepsister's soft red curls as she watched the show. Of course, he paid more attention to Clary than to the dreaded show.

"Have you been good at school today?" Jace buried his face into her soft hair, inhaling the smell of floral shampoo.

"Fingers." She smiled, spread open her paint-stained fingers.

"Finger painting?" Jace smiled slightly, recalling the days when he had done finger painting with his best friend Alec. "You're going to grow up to be an art... _femenon_." He had overheard his father say the word _phenomenon, _asked him for the definition but had not quite mastered pronouncing the word, but he still used it anyway.

Clary nodded. "Finger painting. Wanna see?"

Jace smiled as Clary climbed into his lap and tugged on his shirt, signaling for him to pick her up and place her onto the ground. He did, and the adorably tiny Clary leapt out of his arms and in her cute stumbly-toddler steps, she walked to her school bag and pulled out a rainbow, fingerprint-coated piece of paper.

He had the painting tacked up one day later, and it had been there since then.

-x-

_Eleven Years Later_

"You did not just do that. You did _not _just do that," Clary Fray shouted at her stepbrother, Jace as he leapt away from her, allowing himself to let out whoops of laughter.

"_I hate you!" _Clary shrieked in frustration, grabbing the battered, dirty brown shoe off of the grass, which seconds ago had fallen from the impact of hitting the back of her head. She marched right up to Jace, and flung it at his head.

Well, tried to.

He ducked away from her throw, and still laughing, he ran. Jace was a very fast runner, so in a matter of seconds he was gone. Clary didn't see where he had went. She swore and picked up his shoe, cringing as she let it dangle from one finger.

"Jace!" She shouted, scanning the whole area of her house's backyard, from the old apple tree to the two sets of wooden tables and chairs. He was nowhere in sight.

"Jace, you goddamned idiot, come out _now," _She shouted into the hot summer air. Well, to Clary, it was almost summer, although it was May. She could not wait for the real summer holidays to come where Izzy, Maia and Simon would have water fights and awesome movie nights.

Except for the part where Jace would bother them twenty-four seven. Well, he would interrupt their water fights by turning the tap on and off, on and off again, and he would with their movie nights by unplugging the TV wires.

Sure, he had Alec, but Clary was sure that he found tormenting them a lot more interesting than hanging out with her best friend's brother.

She sighed. "Jace, seriously. Truce?"

He emerged from the garage at last, carrying two popsicles. Clary grabbed the cherry one from him and started to suck on it. "Jace, really? That hurt, you freaking dickhead. It reeked, and god knows how many times it's been in the mud."

"They're my soccer shoes," Jace grinned, ruffling Clary's hair. "Sorry."

"No, you're not," Clary grumbled, inching and turning away from him. "You never mean it when you say sorry. Now just leave me alone."

"I do," Jace said this time, sticking out his wobbling bottom lip and widened his round amber eyes. "I do mean it when I say sorry."

"Jeez, not the doe eyes."

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him, burying his face in her hair.

A shock of electricity went through her, startling her for a moment, and she elbowed him away. "Really, Jace? Really? I know you're pretty warm, but—"

She cut off her voice when she saw the smirk that was starting to spread across his angular face, and turned away, her face red.

"You have better things to do than to harass me. Go leave me alone and play with Alec or your newest toy," Clary muttered.

"I broke up with my last," He said, making air quotes, _"toy" _three months ago. And I don't intend to play with her anytime soon. Although I want to play around with you—"

"Ugh, just go away. I don't want to see you," Clary said, disgusted. "You're a riot."

She then flung the popsicle stick inside the bin and stalked into the house, seething with anger. She couldn't stand her stepbrother, but she sure had mixed and undecipherable feelings about him.

-x-

She angrily tapped onto Isabelle's phone number. Boy problems? Your-annoying-but-unresistable-stepbrother-is-bothering-you-again problems? Get Izzy on speed dial. She'd help big time.

Wait, unresistable?

"Iz," She said angrily in the phone as Isabelle picked up. "Jace referred to me as one of his whores."

Long silence. _"He was joking."_

"And how the hell do _you _know?" Clary muttered, although she kind of had that feeling. She just didn't want to admit it.

"_Sometimes, Clare, I wonder if I know your brother more than you know him. No offense."_

"None taken," Clary grumbled. "I would very happily exchange Jace for Alec. Think about the possibilities! Less noise, less crap music, less stupid remarks, less being annoyed the crap out of myself."

"_I personally like rap."_

She dropped her phone and threw her arms exasperatedly up into the air. "Ew, no."

"_I don't know what you call music, Clare, but he's… totally awesome. Anyway, about Jace, he wasn't being serious. You know how he is. He's… annoying most of the time, but what's inside? You know what's inside."_

"Oh, I would call him more than annoying. He hit me with a shoe. A _dirty, stained, muddy, old _shoe!" Clary exclaimed, getting angry as she rubbed the spot on the back of her head where Jace had struck her with his shoe.

Isabelle laughed. _"You could say that. It's Jace, Clary. I mean, he's your brother, and you know how to deal with him. You don't need me."_

Oh yes she did.

"_But good luck, anyway. I've got to go to my mom's shop to get flowers, so see you. Love you. Bye!"_

"Bye," Clary said annoyedly into the phone and ended the call, letting it drop onto her bed.

She sighed inwardly. She knew what Isabelle said was true, that Jace was her stepbrother and she knew him better than the others. Sure, he was mean, narcissistic and annoying, but sometimes he would comfort her, hang around town with her, make her laugh, bought her stuff and got her what she needed when that time of the month rolled around.

And he was gorgeous. He looked like a gorgeous blond surfer dude, and the way when he brushed back her hair with a tenderness and the tingles when she felt when he touched her every time—

She couldn't think of him that way. She was his stepsister. And she barely knew what was happening to her and her thoughts about Jace.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you liked that. I understand if you feel grossed out or anything, but it isn't really incest I'm sure... Anyway, please favorite, follow and drop a review if you can x

~Nicole


	2. two

**A/N: **WHOA thanks for all the feedback, favorites and follows last chapter. I mean, wow, 10 reviews for one chapter. That's... rad, people. (Yep it's my new favorite word).

Anyway I guess I could call this a quick update... Yeah. :D

In this chapter we see a little bit of Jace's gentler side... Please enjoy!

* * *

-x-

**Clary**

Mondays suck.

Up All Night blared through Clary's bedroom from her alarm, filling her ears with the normally pleasant sound.

It was ironic— that was what she liked about it, picking 'Up All Night' for her wakeup alarm.

She slammed her fist onto the clock and sat up, moaning. Quickly she threw on a shirt over her camisole and stumbled over to the bathroom.

She speedwalked into the living room to see her brother eating breakfast. Technically, he was eating _her _breakfast.

"Hey!" She yelled and slapped his hand away from her food, grimacing at the sight of the half eaten pancake on the plate. "Really, Jace?"

"Morning," He reached to ruffle her hair, and Clary had to slap away his hand for the second time in one minute.

He grinned. "You're gonna eat that?"

Clary closed her eyes, obviously angry and exasperated, and picked up the pancake to put it on his plate. "There. Now leave me alone, please."

Soon enough Isabelle was in her driveway, honking, and Alec followed up behind her. It was kind of funny, how each member in the Lightwood family owned one car except for the youngest, Max.

Clary swung her tribal-print bag over her shoulder and headed out the door without sparing Jace a glance, although she knew he would be right behind her in Alec's car.

She slammed Isabelle's car's door closed, slipping into her seat. Isabelle twisted around from the wheel and lifted her huge red sunglasses as a greeting, while Maia, riding shotgun, said hello.

"How was Jace?" Her friend called from the steering wheel.

"Bad," Clary replied angrily. "He ate my pancake."

"I think you're getting a little too serious with him. Loosen up. Didn't you and him be really close when you were little?"

"Yeah, until Alec happened."

"Nonsense," Maia piped up. "He was always with you even when Alec was there."

"Mhm."

"Eyes on the road, Izzy!"

Isabelle drove to school speedily, as she always was, and Clary trudged to her locker and saw Simon leaning against the door, earphones in, hair sticking up. No doubt listening to Eminem. Clary didn't know what was up with her friends and Eminem, but they all seemed to love him.

Simon grinned, acknowledged the group and Clary let her mind wander off from Jace as they laughed and chatted. When Clary was seated inside of English class, Magnus, the pink-haired Lady Gaga loving boy turned around and grinned at her. Again.

"Clary!" He purred.

"What do you want, Magnus?" She asked although he knew what the pink haired boy wanted to ask her about, which would probably be unusual to most straight boys.

His eyes glinted. "Your brother?"

"My _step_brother," She corrected him. It would seem really weird to others, but for some unknown reason Clary hated it when somebody called Jace her brother— and felt the need to correct them if they did so.

"Right. Your _step_brother. Anyway—?" Magnus' eyes left an unspoken question.

"Jace's been doing fine. He's been playing soccer with his friends. Watching TV. Tormenting me. The usual. Listen, Magnus, since you've been bothering me when I've told you not to for a thousand times, I am going to tell him you've been stalking him and hounding me for information on him."

Magnus didn't look shaken. "Oh. Okay! Thank you, my dear Clary. Another way to make him notice me!"

Clary rolled her eyes. "He's straight. Perhaps you could go see Alec Lightwood, his best friend. I'm pretty sure he's not straight."

"Alec Lightwood? You mean the one with the blue eyes?"

"Yep. Very pretty, black hair, blue eyes, pale skin. Not straight, unlike Jace. You should go talk to him."

This time, Magnus gave her a genuine smile, his slightly asian amber eyes crinkling at the corners. "Thank you."

Then he turned back to the teacher.

Clary sighed, shaking her head. Love can make a person do crazy things.

-x-

Clary dragged herself into the library, along with Maia. She arranged books during study hall for extra credit, which she really needed for English.

At least she had a friend with her.

"May," She wheeled the clunky red cart over to the bookshelf where Maia and herself were tidying and catched the falling book Maia had knocked over, and placed it onto the cart.

Her friend coughed. "Three more periods to go, and hello, extra credit."

Clary sighed. "I don't know why I'm doing this. I should be in study hall, throwing paper balls at people with Simon."

Maia laughed. "Have you seen Jordan today? He's— Clary!"

Clary stumbled into somebody, the stack of books flying everywhere, some knocking over the other books in the bookcases, some hitting the floor.

"Oops!" She scrambled to pick them up before standing up and facing the person that stood in front of her.

_Wow. _Was the first word that registered in her mind.

Some part of it screamed at her not to be shallow, but this dude was… was… _hot._

He had dark hair that curled at his temples, and dark eyes that seemed dangerous yet beautiful at the same time. Not to mention his tall, lean, muscled body.

He seemed to be scowling, but when his eyes landed on Clary his face broke into an easy, seemingly natural grin. "Hey. Sorry about that. I was just… not looking where I was going."

"Oh, I— No! It was me. _I _wasn't looking at where I was going," Clary said, ignoring the blood rising up to her face and how her voice had turned several octaves higher.

"No, I wasn't paying attention. Well, this is an awkward way to meet a girl, but hi. I'm Raphael. Raphael Santiago. Nice to meet you. I know you've never seen me before, and that's 'cause I'm new here."

Clary smiled, and shook his hand. "Clary Fray. Cool. Where'd you come from?"

"School? Oh, I'm not from here. I'm from Mexico."

"That explains the accent." Clary was grinning nonstop like an idiot, but hey, nothing could stop her from doing that, finally stepping out of her birdcage for a while and talking to a guy. And a hot one at that. Well, he seemed nice, so it didn't hurt.

But something tugged at the bottom of her stomach.

"So, you like books?" Raphael smiled at her.

"Oh, no. I like drawing. I mean, reading's fine, but I like drawing a lot better. You can, like, express and draw out all your feelings and all your emotions and your thoughts. I actually find it better than a diary."

He nodded. "Yeah. I can relate."

Clary and Raphael spent the rest of study period talking to each other, and they found out that they didn't have much in common, although sometimes they had the same thoughts. Clary was fine with that, though.

The bell rung, signifying the end of the period. "Uh— So, I'll see you around, maybe?"

Raphael grinned. "Sure! Bye!"

He then scurried out of the library, leaving Clary staring. Maia whistled and wiggled her eyebrows, and Clary hit her shoulder.

"Look beneath the beautiful, Clary."

But Clary was barely paying attention.

-x-

The rest of the day passed by in a flurry, with Clary thinking about Raphael, occasionally having flashes of Jace enter her mind. Twice she'd caught him looking in her direction during lunch. And once he dropped her a adorable little wink.

"You look happy. The happiest I've ever seen you. Like you're not pissed at me anymore," Jace said as Clary sat on the porch after school, smiling, staring at nothing, really.

She was in no mood to be nasty. "Yeah, well, it's not like I'm foul and grumpy all the time, you know."

She could feel the warmth and— and— sunniness of him practically radiating from the spot where he sat, and Clary turned her head away for just a second before Jace wrapped an arm around her.

She even surprised herself by leaning her head onto his shoulder.

"Wow. You really are in a good mood." She couldn't help noticing how his voice had softened and had a touch of something else she could not identify. He then slowly pulled her into her lap, like how they always did before.

_Only if he knew._

She giggled nervously, trying to ignore how this was the closest they'd ever been since, probably a couple years ago. Maybe not that long...? "You know, Jace, you have, like a stalker."

"A _what?"_

"A stalker. An admirer. A Madonna fanboy that goes by the name of Magnus Bane."

"Oh," He said shortly. _"That _one. I know him. I've seen him. It's kind of funny, if you come to think of it."

Clary smiled slightly. "I know. It's kind of funny, the things he says and asks. And... well, he's not straight."

He nodded. "What'd he say?"

"So he kept asking me about what you did after school, who were you seeing, what you ate and yeah, just all that stalker crap. Don't move now, Jace, but he might be hiding behind some bush watching us."

He laughed. Huh. He never found none of her jokes funny.

"Anyway, how's… everything going? Your life, your friends, your… girlfriend." She was feeling extra chatty today, so different from yesterday and the other Clary.

"My girlfriend," Jace stopped. "I do not have a girlfriend. I broke up with the _last _one."

Clary grimaced at the thought of Aline, his ex. "So… you're saying you don't have a girlfriend...?"

"Yep."

"So… no girl following you around like a leashed puppy?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Well, not that I know of, anyway… I don't want any."

"So… no girl?"

His eyes seemed to turn sad. "Well, there is this one girl I've had a crush on since forever. She barely knows. Actually, she doesn't."

"You do?"

"She can't stand me, unfortunately."

A side of Clary's mouth quirked up, although her stomach dropped for just one second. "Wow. Finally. A girl hating on the almighty Jace Wayland. She's… awesome, whoever this girl is."

He laughed a bit, brushing her hair back from her face. Her stepbrother, he could be very gentle. Sometimes the very opposite.

"Tell you what. Since I hate you too, you could pretend I'm that girl you're talking about. How is she like?"

"Oh." He said quietly. "She… She's stubborn, kind of bad tempered sometimes, but most of the time she's spirited, adorable and very beautiful."

"Cool." Clary could barely get the word out, just smiled at him weakly. She tried to ignore the unknown, strange feeling that was mixed with jealousy, and only leaned back a little bit. She was caught in a dilemma to whether to tell him about Raphael, or just keep her mouth shut and not talk about anything.

But then something struck her thoughts— Raphael probably was just only being polite, and probably wasn't interested in her. As she kept thinking about it, the more truer it sounded to Clary. After all, they'd only had, like, a two minute conversation.

"Sometimes she's just— Sometimes she just doesn't… notice."

"Notice what?"

Jace shrugged. "Everything." And then he turned back to watching the sky turn from blue to a light pink.

* * *

**A/N: **lolz I hope you liked that. Please leave a review and tell me if you want to see a flashback of Clary and Jace's past, and... yeah! That's about it!

Thank you.

~Nicole x


	3. three

**A/N: **Hello there you wonderful people! It's been like ten days since I last updated, and I give you my very sincere apologies for that. Thank you for the reviews! They made me grin like an idiot!

Oh and btw one of you asked me about Jace and Clary and if they were any way related and I am gonna make it clear right now. NO. They are not in any way related. Jocelyn and her ex husband gave birth to Clary while Michael and his ex wife gave birth to Jace. The two families obviously split and Michael brought Jace to live with Jocelyn, and Jocelyn brought Clary to live with Michael.

Please enjoy!

* * *

-x-

**Clary**

Things were presumably more comfortable between Clary and Jace after that, although there was an unspoken awkwardness hovering in the air around them.

A good type of awkwardness.

The awkwardness followed them as they woke up the next day and arrived at school. In fact, when Jace reached out to give the usual ruffle of Clary's hair, she did not duck away.

She let him ruffle her hair.

It then struck her that she had never really noticed how Jace had, each and every day, always reached out to touch her hair when he left for his locker and his classes. Well, when he was _with _her, anyway.

As if that was such a big deal. To Clary, it was.

Clary would be up and moving by now, but this time she stood there, staring uncomprehendingly down the hallway. Then she turned and left, shaking her head.

She was majorly confused.

-x-

Later at lunch, Clary sat at her usual seat with her usual best friends. She was surprised when she saw Raphael, all tangled dark hair and plaid shirt sitting on the other side of the cafeteria, talking to a bunch of people.

It was his second day here and he already had a big crowd of friends.

The swim team?

The swim team and a few other girls, to be exact. She could actually hear, from all the way across the cafeteria, Camille Belcourt's high pitched giggle as Raphael said something into her ear.

She cringed and turned back to her lasagna, stabbing the fork into the food as red sauce oozed out from the pasta.

"It looks like it's bleeding," Simon stated. "Spare the lasagna."

"Whatever," Clary muttered, and forked at least half of it into her mouth before stopping to catch her breath, her mouth full.

Maia shook her head. "Don't."

"Don't what?" Isabelle inquired, daintily plucking a french fry from Maia's tray, ignoring her protest and popped it into her mouth.

"Well, Clary and I kind of met this hot new Mexican guy yesterday in the library."

A wide grin spread across Izzy's face. "Really? Who?"

Her other friend laughed. "Clary's got a little crush on him, Iz."

The redhead flushed. "I so _do not."_

"All of this girl talk is making me really uncomfortable," Simon said warily. "You might as well uninclude me from this conversation."

"Who is he? I just want to know who he is."

"Raphael Santiago, I think," Maia replied. "He's sitting over there, and he's the reason why Clary's pissed."

"Pissed?" Isabelle's head turned to the direction where Raphael was sitting at. "Oh. Isn't she that bimbo? Cam—"

"Jace's been really weird," Clary said, trying to change the subject, to get Izzy's mind off of Raphael before she questioned her about him.

"And?"

"Well, he hasn't been bombarding me with insults or sarcastic remarks or any of the type yesterday, when we were out in the yard. In fact, he seemed like the type of _kindly brother who confides in to his sister about his secrets and admiration towards people."_

"This a _let's talk about Clary's love life _lunch conversation?" Simon sounded annoyed. "Well, I guess I'm glad that you're spending quality time together."

"Well, it isn't quality time. In fact, he was talking about another girl he liked."

Isabelle shrugged. "You know how he is. You can't exactly understand him. He might not be talking about all the bitches you know."

"No. I know him enough, and I am sure that he was talking about all the play tous."

Her friend facepalmed herself. "Maybe he's _not. _Maybe there's some other girl he likes that _isn't _one of Kaelie."

"How do you know about that?" Clary questioned, getting slightly impatient.

"It's obvious." Maia muttered. "I can't believe—"

"Hey, Clary."

Clary looked up, and froze when she saw Raphael standing in front of her, like he hadn't been flirting and laughing with one of the most popular girls in the school just moments ago. "Hey—?"

He smiled, his dark eyes crinkling at the corner, and turned to look at her friends. "Oh. I've met you yesterday, right? May?"

"Maia, actually."

He nodded. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Weren't you with Camille?"

"Well, I got kind of bored."

Clary frowned slightly but then turned, and the satisfaction flooded through her as she saw Camille shooting daggers at her. She smiled and turned back to the boy in front of her. "Sure! These are my friends Simon and Isabelle, by the way."

He shook their hands and then started on lunch. "So, Clary, we were talking about art yesterday, right?"

"Uh, yeah. You prefer reading."

"I was wondering if you had a sketchbook. You know, since you said you liked drawing."

In fact, Clary did have a sketchbook, although it was everything personal and she barely let anybody look at it.

"I actually do."

Raphael smiled. "Can I see it?"

She paused for a second. She thought about pulling out her very personal sketchbook and showing it to Raphael, as if it was a way to somehow attract him, but instead she told him a lie.

"I don't have it right now. It's at home."

He eyed her bag warily. "Really?"

"Um, yes. It's at home." Clary lied straight through her teeth.

He arched one straight eyebrow.

Clary felt something prodding at her bag, and she turned her head just in time to see Simon poke the spine of her sketchbook (that obviously said _sketchbook _in gold lettering) into her bag until it was swallowed completely.

Well, damn.

"Uh, it's kind of personal, so, I'm sorry, I guess." Clary said nonchalantly.

"Well, I was just wondering." He replied. She was probably imagining things but she thought she heard an edge to his voice.

"Well, okay."

Maia mouthed _awkward._

Isabelle started on a conversation about movies, and after a while, she suggested that they all go together to one. She had a look on her face, directed at Clary, that said _I'm doing you a favor._

Clary decided she loved the idea of going to a movie with Isabelle, Simon, Maia and _Raphael. _Maybe she could even get up close to those full, pink lips…

_Dream on. _She mentally scolded herself.

"Yeah, this movie's been out for a few days. It's called _Vermillion Sunset." _Raphael said. "It seems really good. I was wondering if you would like to go with me."

It took her a moment to realise that Raphael was talking to her. "M— Me? And you? Alone?" Clary answered, kind of shaken. It also didn't occur to her that he had declined Isabelle's offer.

But this was better, she guessed.

Raphael gave her that easy smile that she decided was one of Raphael's best features. "Yeah. Me and you. Alone. Tomorrow."

Clary tried her best to not look as if she was going to explode into her "happy dance" right in the middle of the cafeteria at lunch. Or scream _YAAAAAY _at the top of her lungs.

"Uh, sure!" She said mellowly instead.

He smiled, and went back to eating his lunch. When the bell rang, he walked out of the cafeteria but not before dropping Clary a coy wink.

-x-

Clary sketched a boy with unruly dark hair, straight eyebrows, long eyelashes and a full mouth as she sat under the shade of the old oak tree in her backyard. It took her a moment to realize it was Raphael she was drawing.

Then she doodled a gigantic heart next to his face.

Well, of course she wasn't going to be showing Raphael her sketchbook anytime soon.

She was so concentrated on drawing swirling patterns inside the heart that she didn't notice her stepbrother sit next to her until he pinched her on the arm. And she was wearing a tank top.

"_Seriously?!"_ Clary shrieked, and slapped her stepbrother with all her might. "Is it always Torture Clary Time when you find me in the yard?"

"No. You seemed so focused on the drawing— Who's that?" Jace asked, his eyebrows drawn together. He was pointing at her sketchbook, which was currently opened up on the page of her drawing of Raphael.

_Damn._

She scrambled to pick her sketchbook up. When she did, she slammed it shut and hugged it to her chest. "Oh, just somebody."

"That arouses my suspicion even more," Jace said, the look still on his face. "Who is it?"

"Nobody special." Pink flooded her cheeks, and she flipped around so she was lying face-first on the grass, the sketchbook pressed to the ground and her chest.

"You do realise that I'm going to have to pick you up and toss you away so I can look at the drawing a lot more clearly."

"You are not," Clary said, before dragging herself up from the ground, grabbing her sketchbook and started to run as fast as she could, although she knew it was pointless.

"_You can run, but you can't hide!" _She heard Jace call five seconds before he tackled Clary to the ground so they were a tangled pile of sweaty limbs.

Clary flushed, warmth flowing through her. She immediately kicked him away and wriggled out of his grasp. Jace grabbed her arm before she could get away once again.

"Let go and leave my sketchbook alone, you asshat." Clary looked away, her sketchbook in her other hand, trying to pull away from him.

He laughed. _"Asshat."_

"Jeez, seriously! Let _go!"_

"Well, tell me who that is!" He wasn't even panting, the ass. He had a hand wrapped effortlessly around Clary's small wrist, grinning mischievously as Clary tried to yank her arm away.

"Why do you want to know, anyway? Why do you care?"

"Is it a guy from school?" His eyes narrowed.

"Uh, yeah. Why the hell do you care, anyway?" Clary asked, annoyed, but she had a hunch. _Just because he feels sorry for me..._

"What do you _think, _Clary? Why is there a gigantic heart next to it?"

"Yes, Jace. This will probably shock you, but I've got a date. Yeah. _I've got a date. _Your dorky, unknown stepsister was actually asked out. So lay off," Clary fumed, her eyes turning glassy.

He froze. _"A date? _Who is this— _Clary! _I didn't mean it like—"

But she was already inside the house, door slammed, and she was already inside her bedroom. Her face was buried inside the pillow, and she was trying to blink back tears.

_Typical. He thinks it's unreasonable that I have a date because I'm not good enough for no guy._

Then miracally, she slowly fell asleep.

Moments later Jace entered her room and wrapped one arm around her waist, lying in her bed next to her.

* * *

**A/N: **The next chapter will probably be fluffy. Yeah, it shall be fluffy, and there will be some flashbacks...

So stay tuned! :)x

-NICOLE OUT-

**Please drop a review inside my very hungry review box below!**


	4. four

**A/N: **Hi! I guess you could consider this a quick update, judging by the fact that the update before my last one lasted for two weeks. I loved all your reviews. Thank you all so much. They mean a lot to me.

Well, I said there would be fluff this chapter and a flashback. There _is _a flashback and some fluff. A bed is involved. :)x

[LOLnope not what you're thinking dirty minded people sorry]

* * *

-x-

**Clary**

Clary woke up. Something wasn't normal, because her feet were tangled with somebody else's. And her face was buried inside...

"_Ew! _What the _hell?" _She leaped away from somebody chest on instinct, and to her horror and bafflement, she saw that Jace's shirt had been pulled all the way down so her face was practically on one of his pecs—

She was so embarrassed she forgot about what had happened earlier. "Put your shirt back on!"

Jace grinned. "Don't worry. I have that effect on girls, with or without the shirt."

When Clary regained her cool, she remembered what had happened. "Get _out." _She hissed, sitting up, attempting to push her smug (how dare he) stepbrother off of the bed. "I _hate you. _I don't want to see you."

"Yeah, well, dinner is in five minutes."

"How do _you _know? After all, _you've _just got out of bed." Clary challenged him.

"It's actually my sixth sense. I thought you already knew that."

Clary snorted. "You're misusing the sixth sense."

"You can't _misuse _the sixth sense," Jace retorted.

Clary rolled her eyes, exasperated. "No, you can."

Seeing her stepbrother's face, she gave in. After all, Jace was the type of boy who was very stubborn and wasn't willing to back down from a fight. "Okay. Fine. I don't want dinner. Now get out."

She was probably seeing things, but her stepbrother's eyes darkened. "Not until we talk."

"We have nothing to talk about," Clary said, anger returning. "You made it very clear, so it'll be best for both of us if you get out and leave me alone."

He mumbled something inaudible under his breath but Clary was pretty sure she caught the word "stubborn". And he was the one to say that.

"_Out."_

He covered his eyes with one hand. "I'm sorry."

"Don't play that card on me, Jace Wayland," Clary said savagely. "We all know you don't mean it."

For a second his eyes looked as if they were drained of emotion but that was just the calm before the storm. And it only lasted for about ten seconds, which wasn't usually how long the tranquility before a storm lasted.

"Why are you always like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like— _Like—_ You have this _idea— _you think I'm incorrigible— like I'm something disgusting that can never be changed— that I'm not exactly _human— _but guess what, Clary, I am human. Yeah, _I'm actually human._ I have _feelings._ I _can _be changed. Actually, I am already."

She cringed at how he had referred to her earlier words.

"What do you want to do with me now?"

She watched him guilty from her green eyes. "I just want you to leave," she said in a small voice.

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. All of the things she could have said, she had told Jace she wanted him to leave, right after he had bashed himself in the head again and again. Couldn't she tell him she wanted him to stay?

_Clary, you stupid girl. _She mentally scolded herself. _You're a bitch._

Clary could only watch helplessly as her stepbrother's face went blank. "Fine," he said in a voice that brought shivers up Clary's spine, and then turned on his heel and walked out of her bedroom, the door slamming with a _thud._

Couldn't she have said "Wait"?

-x-

She was feeling guiltier and guiltier as time passed by, but all she could do was sit, sulking her room. She couldn't just walk into the dining room when Jace was there eating and was pissed at her.

She knew him— if he was mad at you, he would totally flat-out ignore you.

She swallowed and wrapped her blankets around herself, just like a cocoon.

She had always hated it when her stepbrother was angry at her— and she had went ahead and angered him when she knew she hated him when he was like this.

_Stupid._

She thought about Isabelle and all her seemingly reassuring words. _Don't worry, Clare, he's just kidding. You know he's kidding. _

Well, this time, was he really kidding? His eyes had practically popped out of his skull when he had heard that she had a date with a boy.

Clary rubbed her eyes as she heard the squeak of the dining chair being pushed back under the table, and she heard the sound of Jace's light footsteps going up the stairs. For a second, Clary thought he was going to enter her room, but of course he went into _his _and softly shut the door.

She sighed, throwing the covers away from her body and clutched her sketchbook to her chest. Then she stood up and did the most reasonable thing— she went out from her room and slowly opened Jace's door.

"Jace?" She said timidly.

He was sitting on his bed, gold curls disheveled, doing nothing but staring at the door like he was expecting somebody to walk in at any time.

_Well, he gets lucky this time, _Clary thought.

His eyes fixed on her as she walked in, a metre from the bed.

"C'mere."

"Sorry," Clary said in a small voice. "I— I shouldn't have said that."

He shook his head. "No. I deserve it. After all, I've been a dickhead."

Clary sat on the side of his bed, smiling. "Maybe you have, maybe you haven't."

"I shouldn't have yelled at you."

Clary only shook her head. "Well, I haven't been very nice either."

"You're my stepsister. You're supposed to trust me, you know. We're supposed to trust each other." He then wrapped his arms around Clary's waist, with her letting out a squeak of surprise, and pulled her down with him so they were together on the bed.

Her face turned fire-engine red. "Hey!"

_He's my stepbrother._

"Clary, about the date. It was a misconception. It wasn't like that at all. It wasn't what you thought. I promise."

She watched as the glowing amber lamp on his bedside table cast shadows around the room. "How?"

"Well, I was— just, you know, worried."

"Um, so you were being an overprotective brother?"

Jace smiled wanly. "You could put it that way."

Clary was barely convinced but she knew Jace barely lied. He hated liars. And he only lied if it was in a desperate situation. This wasn't too much of a desperate situation. "Just don't do it again."

But nothing stopped her heart from dropping a little. Clary didn't know what caused the feeling, but she had a hunch that she would have to live with it if Jace was around.

"Just tell me his name, Clare."

Clary looked up. "Who?"

"That boy. That boy you're going out with."

_You're supposed to trust me, you know. _

Clary swallowed. "Okay. Raphael Santiago. That's all you need to know, now you know who he is. Don't ruin this for me, Jace. Let me go tomorrow."

"Okay. We're fine now?" A genuine smile had formed on Jace's lips.

"Yeah," She murmured.

Her stepbrother's lips brushed the nape of Clary's neck as the arms around her tightened, and she partly shivered and partly hoped that he didn't know or find out.

"Jace."

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" She could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

Her face was already red and she didn't want him to see it to worsen the condition. Or he already knew.

He dropped an airy kiss this time on her hair that probably matched the current color of her face. "We used to do this all the time before, you know."

Clary's mouth opened and her face turned warm. She was relieved nobody could see her right now, especially not Jace. _Well, now it's different._

"Listen. If I'm gonna sleep with you, then wear your shirt properly. The first thing I do _not _want to see first thing in the morning is your naked chest."

He laughed softly. "Whatever you say." Then he kissed the back of her neck and tangled their feet together before going to sleep.

Clary's eyelids drooped, and she twisted around in her stepbrother's arms to rest her head against his chest.

"Good night, Jace."

_Wait, Jace?!_

One part of her brain told her to _get out of the bed_, _you are not supposed to be in one with your stepbrother, _while the other part told her to _just kiss him already!_

He was smiling slightly, probably in response. Immediately Clary's mind flashed back to when they were kids as warmth radiated from the spots where they were touching, and a sense of security and familiarity washed over her as Jace held her close.

-x-

_8 years ago_

Clary was small for a seven-year-old.

She walked to her bedroom door window and tried to shove it open, but of course it wouldn't budge. She could only watch as eight-year-old Jace and Alec kicked the black-and-white soccer ball around their backyard.

She'd wanted to join them. She had asked Jace but he had laughed, telling her that soccer was a "boy sport" and she would be better off watching from the window.

He never looked up once from his game, but when he scored the last goal he finally lifted his head up from the soccer ball and Alec, and a wide grin spread out on his face.

Clary had smiled back, but Alec had gotten up from the ground, sweaty and muddy, and stuck his tongue out and started to make faces at her.

Normally Jace would tell Alec off and ask him to stop, as he didn't like other people teasing his stepsister, but instead he _laughed along _with him and even made some faces once or twice.

Her eyebrows started to draw together, and before she knew it she had ducked down from the window and had started to cry. She furiously wiped away the tears from her face and climbed onto her bed.

Before she knew it, Jace had appeared, very much sweaty but he was still warm and soft. When he tried to slip in, Clary had slapped him away.

"Clare, I'm sorrrrry," Jace tried elongating the vowel.

"No. Go away."

"Clary? I'm sorry."

"Go play with your Alec."

"He isn't my Alec. I just thought the faces he made were kind of funny! I thought they would make you laugh!"

Clary turned around and faced her stepbrother, all sweaty, tangled gold curls and wide, round amber eyes, and was almost close to giving in. Her stepbrother always had this effect on her, and for a seven-year-old, she did not like it. "No."

He pouted, looking at Clary from behind long eyelashes. "Sorry, sorry, I'll never make those faces at you again!"

She nodded, sighing inwardly, knowing that he would have won anyway. And he looked really cute in that face. "Okay."

"Does that mean I get to sleep here? I'm tired."

Clary giggled. "Ew, you're smelly. I think you should tell dad to help you take a bath."

"I take my baths on my own now. Besides, I don't want to take a bath."

"So?"

"So can I climb in?"

"Okay, but don't be so smelly."

Jace grinned and slipped into the bed, and wrapped one arm around her body while he stroked his stepsister's soft red hair with the other. "Are you tired?"

"Yes."

"Go to sleep then."

-x-

_Now_

Clary smiled slightly as the peaceful feeling of the memory washed over her. She clasped Jace's hand loosely in hers, and went to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you! There will be more of Clace in the future chapters.

Please review and please give me suggestions! I don't mind at all :)x

**Please drop a review!**


	5. five

**A/N: **Hello all. :D

Thank you for the sixty reviews, they made my day. I was intending to try updating earlier, but I had to revise for my 2 tests (which I did alright in) the past week so you could say I didn't have time... yeah but I always go on this site to check lol

Anyway, this is your awaited fifth chapter of this story, and I really hope you enjoy it... eheheheh

* * *

-x-

**Clary**

Raphael approached Clary first thing in the morning, when she was rearranging her books and pictures inside of her locker. "Clary!"

Clary grinned and turned around. "Hey, Raphael!"

"So, a date tonight, my lady?" Before he allowed her time to respond, he picked her hand up and kissed it swiftly.

She blushed bright red but she couldn't help thinking about Jace, how soft his lips were and when he had kissed the back of her neck the night before.

_Stop thinking about Jace, _she told herself. She was worried that sooner or later she would start thinking about him whenever a boy's skin touched hers.

"Yeah." She grinned like an idiot.

He smiled and told her the details. Today, seven P.M at the local theater, and then they would have dinner somewhere.

She could probably explain the annoyance and anger seeping from a pair of amber eyes a couple lockers away, but she probably _couldn't _do the same with the hurt and jealousy that was mixed together with it.

-x-

An elated Clary shot out from the classroom and started towards the entrance, where Raphael said he would meet her. Jace had came over the previous lunch and had been plaguing her with questions and unwanted "statements".

"You're seriously going to go?"

"I'm telling you, Clary, this Raphael guy isn't good news."

"When will you be back?"

"He should pick you up after school at home."

"Clary, really?"

In the end, she had gritted her teeth and hissed at him that she could take care of herself and that she didn't need her overprotective brother hovering over her all the time. Jace left her to be at that.

So she was there at three thirty p.m, waiting in front of the entrance of the school, her tribal print bag clasped eagerly in her hands. She waited.

Five minutes. Ten minutes. When twenty minutes passed, a feeling of dread had started to spread out inside Clary's stomach, but she reassured herself that it was probably because Raphael had some kind of after-school meeting with a teacher and he hadn't told her earlier today, or something.

Or maybe he had just ditched her.

She leaned against a pillar as she swung her bag now impatiently back and forth, a frown setting on her eyebrows. Was he going to come or not?

Maybe she was right herself. Maybe he was only being nice. Maybe he didn't actually like her. Maybe he was only joking around with her, or was—

"Clary!" Raphael said ebulliently, although he looked quite agitated. His forehead was glistening and he was panting, as if he had been running from something for a long time.

A smile creeped out on Clary's face. So he was here after all. "I like the way how you always sneak up on me and interrupt my thoughts by saying hello."

He smiled guiltily at her. "I'm sorry I'm really late, it was just I kind of got into a spat with this cocky blonde guy, and I had to chase him off."

Clary's smile was replaced with a dubious frown. "Oh…?"

_There are a lot of cocky blonde people in your school, Clary. What are the odds, anyway?_

But then Clary noticed the purplish bruise at the underside of his jaw. His head whipped around, while Clary's frown deepened with concern. "Raphael, what happened?" She reached out to touch his jaw, but before she could Raphael had turned around and started walking down the pavement to his car. "Clary, come on. Wouldn't want to miss the movie."

"Coming!" Clary called after him to catch up, thoughts swirling messily around in her head. The cocky blonde guy probably had to chase _him _off instead of the other way around.

She thought she heard someone call her name when she shut the door to the car, but she was probably hearing things so she ignored it and didn't look back.

-x-

Clary did and didn't enjoy the movie.

Well, the movie _was _good. It was something about cowgirls and the Wild West, which Clary liked, but Raphael had been talking nonstop and had been making snide remarks about the main character, who Clary had enjoyed.

In other words, he was pretty annoying. He had also criticised her "taste" but Clary quickly brushed it off. She was never going to have a proper relationship if she paid so much of her attention to little things like these.

She spent the rest of the time in the restaurant trying to notice the _big _things Raphael did. Well, she could count pulling the chair out from under the table for her as a big thing, right?

"I hope you like the place, Clary."

"Yes, I do, it's really…." Clary racked her brains for a remarkable word to say but ended up saying "nice".

"Lasagna?"

"No, thanks. I hate lasagna," Clary said, reading and ticking stuff off her menu. "Can I have, uh, roasted salmon? With herbs?"

He snorted. "I've been here with my family a few weeks ago, when I first came, and I remember we were kind of amused when we learnt that this place served salmon with herbs."

"What's wrong with that?" She grimaced slightly, as she had probably sounded sharp to Raphael's ears.

"It sounded terribly out of place."

She cocked an eyebrow. And he was the one questioning _her _taste. "Okay?"

He nodded and called a waiter over to order.

After some conversation about family, Clary decided to ask him about the cocky blonde guy he had mentioned earlier. Her gaze slowly shifted to the protruding purplish bruise.

Raphael looked up from his soup all of a sudden, as if he had noticed her staring at him.

She smiled sheepishly. "Raphael, is your bruise really okay?"

He nodded, batting an unconcerned hand. "It's fine, don't worry. Thanks for asking."

"Um, about this blonde you mentioned earlier? Can I ask about that?" Clary started to mentally scold herself that there was a huge chance that this person wasn't going to be her stepbrother, but she proceeded anyway.

He seemed to stiffen but he smiled anyway. "Sure, of course! Ask me anything you want."

"Uh, if by any chance, was he wearing a, um, blue shirt? And jeans?" She couldn't believe she had remembered what Jace was wearing this morning, but he had made her watch him change, just because he wanted to "de-prude" her.

"That isn't helping, Jace!" She had yelled and had flung a pillow at him. But she had blushed, anyway. And he had only made her watch him change his shirt.

He looked up, thinking. "Uh, yes. Of that sort, I think. Yes. Why?"

She frowned. "What was his name?"

"I… I think his name was… Jonathan? Jace? I don't know."

Clary froze, her fork midair, a piece of roasted salmon dangling in the air. _"Jace? _Jace Wayland?"

The salmon fell from her fork and landed on the table with a _splat._

Raphael's eye twitched nervously. "You know him? Or does everyone know him except for the new kid?"

"Um, yes. In fact, he's my stepbrother."

-x-

Clary's body was stiff with rage when she entered Raphael's car. She could barely move.

Her hands trembled in her lap as Raphael drove her home in an awkward silence. She bit her lip to keep herself from yelling. That bastard, he wasn't going to get away from this this time.

When she got to her house, she pushed open the door forcefully and after giving Raphael a brief goodbye (what she didn't notice was Raphael looking after her slightly slyly because she had already turned her back and was marching angrily up to her house), she stormed upstairs and threw open Jace's door.

"_Damn you!" _She shouted at him, a string of curse words following.

Then _his _hands were on her, around her, trying to block all the punches she threw at him. "Clary, calm down!"

"_No."_

"Ow!" He yelled, rubbing the spot next to his eye where Clary had hit him a few seconds ago. "What the hell was that?!"

"You're the one to ask me!"

"What in heaven's name are you talking about, Clary?!"

She hit his chest.

"For god's sake, Clary, you're acting like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. Calm down. _Ca—"_

Clary froze, realized she was hitting and slapping and _wounding_ her stepbrother like a fractious, undisciplined child.

"I hate you."

"I know you do," He said softly. "And I have a hunch why."

"You hit him? You really hit him?"

"Do you know _why, _Clary? Why don't you ask me why?"

"Because I already know why! I know you're loco, Jace, but you can't hit someone because you're annoyed that he's dating your little stepsister, even if you're overprotective!"

She could tell he was trying to bite back a smile. "Look at you. _Loco."_

Clary closed her eyes, irritated but ended up smiling too, although her face was streaked with tears. Jace tentatively reached out one hand and wiped away the tears with his thumb. "Alright, fine. Whatever. Raphael wasn't that bad but wasn't that good, either."

"So you're not mad at me anymore?"

"Yes, I'm mad at you, but not that much. I just don't have the energy to be angry at you."

"Clary, I didn't hit him because he was going to go on a date with you. I hit him because he was doing something he shouldn't be doing."

"Oh?" Clary challenged him. "Like what? Like leaning against your locker, accidentally touching, oh no, _scratching _it because of the edge of a maths book? Like—"

He closed his eyes. "Shut up, Clary. He was flirting with another girl when I knew he was going to go on a date with you later in the day."

"I don't believe you," She said after a long time.

"Believe what you want. But right now, I think we should go cool off."

"I'll very happily do that."

Then Clary walked down the stairs, body less stiff, switched on the TV and inserted a DVD into the slot.

* * *

**A/N:** Well I just read all of this over again and thinking w_ow, this is dramatic_

sizzy & malec is just right around the corner in case you were wondering

haha please leave a review on the review box below, I will try updating quicker soon :)x


	6. six

**A/N: **Hi. I'm back with a chapter that I would consider longish(?) since people have requested for long chapters. I rewrote this chapter for at least six times, so please take time to appreciate my effort. :D

THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS, BTW!

YAY easter holidays start on thursday so hopefully updates will take less time

* * *

-x-

**Clary**

Raphael didn't ignore her like she thought he would, after yesterday's little revelation. He seemed to suddenly take an interest into knowing who she was; knowing who she _actually _was, as if he wanted to get to know her better than Jace did.

Actually, that would be impossible.

Clary didn't go as far as telling him that she had a secret stash of chocolate located inside the third kitchen cabinet at her house, but she had answered the occasional drop-in question about Jace.

"Um, yes, he doesn't show it, but— I don't know, but I think he does care for me."

"You should speak more directly the next time, Clary, otherwise nobody will be able to understand you. Yes, Raphael, Jace does care for his stepsister," Simon said swiftly.

"Why does she sound so unsure?" Raphael asked Isabelle curiously.

"Oh," She flapped a hand airily in response. "She just does not accept the fact that her stepbrother actually has a deep affection for her. A really, really, _deep _affection. She might just be the only person in the world he cares for."

"Can we stop talking about this?" Clary cut in, starting to get annoyed.

"You'll have to believe it someday, Clare, otherwise—" Maia muttered something under her breath, something only Clary seemed not to hear.

"What?"

"Nothing," Maia answered, casually dipping her french fry into the pool of ketchup. "Just a random thought."

She turned to Raphael, looking for any kind of reaction that would alarm her. But instead there was a smile, not his natural smile, plastered onto his face.

She dismissed it without a thought. Anything and everything looked good on Raphael.

"Guys!" Isabelle clapped her hands, vouching for everyone's attention. "That dude— Sebastian, I think— He's invited me to a party, and there is absolutely no way I'm going alone."

"You've been to parties before, Izzy. _I _haven't," Protested Clary, swirling her yogurt around with her spoon.

"Wait," Raphael interjected. "Just because you're invited, we're all invited?"

Izzy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think Sebastian cares. At all. The more the merrier, apparently."

"Sebastian Verlac?" Clary asked.

"Yep."

"Isn't that one of Jace's soccer teammates?"

Isabelle nodded in response.

"So Jace is definitely going to be there. Yeah, well, I'm not in the mood to see him get drunk and start grinding on the dance floor. And _then _they'll go up and get a room and catch an STD—"

Raphael snorted, while Simon rolled his eyes. "Well, you do think… out of the box, don't you?"

Raphael nodded. "I can imagine your asshole of a stepbrother doing that."

"Anyway, are you coming?" Izzy asked yet again.

"I'll come if Clary's coming."

Simon looked slightly flustered, but didn't say anything.

Raphael's gaze fell on Clary. "I'm coming if she's coming."

"Nope!" Clary said cheerfully. "Sorry, but parties aren't my thing. You guys don't need to bother with me. I'll just spend the night at home watching Flynn Rider hit people with his frying pan.."

Isabelle sighed. "Don't make me feel sorry for you, Clare. Just this once? Please?"

Clary ignored the doe eyes. "No."

Isabelle made no effort to conceal her displeasure. "Alrighty then, it isn't your first time. Maia, Simon, Raphael?"

"Again, I'm not going unless Clary does. I'd even watch _Tangled _with her, although it's a movie for toddlers," Raphael said loyally.

Clary smiled weakly. She didn't think it was a movie for toddlers.

Maia and Simon said they'd think about it, and before Clary knew it, the bell had gone.

-x-

Clary loved art class, but what she didn't like was Camille Belcourt's noisy, repetitive finger-tapping. They had plastic desks, for god's sake.

Unable to take it anymore, Clary turned around and hissed at her. _"Shut up!"_

Camille sneered in response.

She didn't know if was any form of revenge, but when Clary finished using the toilet later and walked out from the stall, Camille was there, hands on her hips, watching her coolly from behind long, golden eyelashes.

As if she wasn't standing there just a few feet away from her, Clary walked right up to the sinks and finished washed her hands.

She was about to brush pass Camille and leave the bathroom when she grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled Clary towards her.

Clary forcefully slapped her arm off of her back. "Hey!"

Camille smiled sweetly, like she hadn't almost torn the other girl's shirt. "Listen up, Fray. I'm not sure you're aware of this, but you've been stealing Raphael away from me."

Clary raised both her eyebrows, since she still hadn't mastered the skill of raising only one. "I didn't know he was yours."

She rolled her eyes. "Think, you idiot. He feels sorry for you. I'm sorry, Clary, but you don't _exactly _look like a girl he would go for. I mean, let me explain this."

She snorted. "Look who's talking."

She ignored Clary, and batted her eyelashes. "Let's see. You have _me. _I'm his type. I'm _everyone's _type. I'm pretty, I'm popular, I'm fun, I'm outgoing. I'm Camille Belcourt."

"_Vain, _more like." But that did hurt. That did hurt, even though it was coming from an airhead whose remarks she couldn't care less about. So why was it bothering her now?

"And we have _you. _Freak show, geeky, unpopular, antisocial. You're a nobody, Clary Fray. Think of Raphael! He's already a big hit. Why do you think he's hanging out with you?"

"I actually have friends. I'm not antisocial," Clary sneered. "Half your friends come crawling to you for your popularity and your money."

Camille smiled. "Be careful what you say, Fray. Let me give you some advice. Stay away from Raphael."

Then she turned on her back and was out of the washroom.

-x-

Clary knew it was stupid, but she was still pondering over what Camille Belcourt had said to her in the bathrooms on the way home. Unsurprisingly, Jace wasn't there when she got home. She immediately ran up the stairs to the bathroom and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Short. Freckly. Frizzy, unruly red hair. Not good enough.

Tears started to blur her vision, and with a quick swipe with the back of her hand, they were instantly gone.

She knew she shouldn't be taking somebody like Camille Belcourt's words to the heart, but she knew everything she had said was true. Now would be a good time to call Izzy and bitch about it. _Then _she would arrive at school tomorrow and tell Camille of with very colorful vocabulary.

Clary ended up calling her, but it wasn't for that reason.

"Isabelle?" She said into her phone, her voice slightly croaky.

"_Oh, hey, Clare." _Isabelle's usual perkiness in her voice was gone, and she wondered if she was pissed at her.

"Take me to the party."

-x-

Isabelle arrived exactly ten minutes later. Decked in her sparkly party gear, she took no notice of her puffy eyes and her slightly sullen expression.

She didn't know if Izzy was just being ignorant, but she allowed her to dress her up in a chiffon green dress that reached her thighs and a silver butterfly barrette.

Maia and Simon stood behind her, watching in awe. Clary knew Simon wasn't a party person, but she had a feeling lately Izzy had been having him on a leash.

"I think I should call Raphael," Clary told her. "He said he would go if I'd go."

Izzy nodded. "You better call him, we wouldn't want to arrive too late."

"Can't we just come and go whenever we want to?"

"Yeah, but it would be lame. Curfew's at ten thirty, right?" Izzy asked, her fingers expertly working wonders on her hair.

"Uh, my parents aren't here, so no. Later. Definitely a lot later."

Isabelle smiled. "Great. Clary, I'm glad you're now showing a little bit more of your… wild side."

She grinned at her, her fingers on the dial pad of her phone, poised to tap in Raphael's number. "Definitely."

He arrived, fifteen minutes later in a classy dress shirt and jeans. The shirt complimented his skin tone, but again, anything would look good on Raphael.

Clary bit her lip and stared at him. She couldn't really believe that she was actually doing this for Camille and for him. Then she started on about stupid Camille and all her comments. _Not good enough for Raphael._

Well, she'd prove her wrong.

When they were all loaded in Izzy's car, she stepped on the gas and the car sped off into the darkening sky.

-x-

Clary had expected loud music, alcohol and joints, and that was what she was greeted with when she stepped into Sebastian's mansion.

She cringed and dodged a pool of vomit that had unfortunately got into her way as she was maneuvering herself through the crowds of people.

She was starting to rethink her decision.

Then she did something that surprised herself— She linked her arm through Raphael's.

"Sorry!" She yelled over the noise. "It's just— I don't wanna get lost!"

She could hear him chuckle, even through the pounding music. They had already lost Izzy and Simon, and Maia seemed to be looking for somebody in particular. After all, she was scanning the crowds with an eager look in her eyes.

Then she started to look for Jace.

The moment she realised what she was doing, she teared her eyes away from everybody else and pulled Raphael towards the makeshift

bar that a lot of people were at.

This wasn't about Jace.

_Geeky, unpopular, freaky? Have your say, Camille._

It wasn't her first time consuming an alcoholic beverage. Her father had let her try once— and— it wasn't a pleasant experience. But of course, Clary knew what it would do to you so she threw her head back, laughed, and started to drink.

It came as disgusting at first, but as she continued she didn't find the taste or the smell repulsing any more.

Raphael seemed to be doing the same.

After the first, Clary caught a glimpse of Jace at the corner of her eye. A girl had hurled herself onto him, and he didn't seem to be making any effort to push her away.

A stab of pain shot through her chest, and it immediately started to clench with jealousy.

She wasn't supposed to feel like that, so she mentally slapped herself and chugged down a second cup.

Soon enough, after her sixth, Raphael was making out passionately with her. Glee replaced the hurt and jealousy in her chest, and her heart pounded as he crushed her lips against his yet again

She laughed against his mouth, hoping that Camille was around to see her. She wanted to see her reaction. She wanted to know what she would have to say.

But when he picked her up and started to carry her to one of the rooms, she was starting to rethink it, even though she was drunk and disoriented and had barely any idea what she was actually doing. She didn't stop him, though.

So it wasn't his fault when Clary gasped and realized what she was about to do in the middle of letting Raphael undress herself. She tried to kick out at his chest.

"_Stop."_

Raphael ignored her, and continued working his way down the zipper, a maniacal grin on his face, his dark eyes glinting maliciously. She didn't know what had gotten into him, but she was pretty sure it was the alcohol.

_I am such a hypocrite. _When she had talked about Jace in this exact situation just mere hours ago...

"Raphael! _Stop!"_

She kicked at his chest again, but he took no notice.

"_Raphael!"_

Then she heard somebody kick open the door, push Raphael away from her and scoop her up into their arms. "She said stop, you little bastard."

She was then engulfed in the familiar scent of Jace's aftershave... and sunshine.

* * *

**A/N: **I.. Uh... Hoped you like that. meh. i promise that the next chapter will be fluffy and clace. until next time, puhhleazeee review.

au revoir.


	7. seven

**A/N:** _There will be a time where writer's block does not exist, and fanfiction writers and readers alike are all satisfied and happy..._

hahahah pfffft in my dreams. anyway, i'm here with a sadly VERY SHORT chapter since i felt bad for not posting and i just had to post something after ten days. it's kinda fluffy(?)

well whatever i really hate it when my chapters are less than 1500 words but for this one my mind was totally blank soooo sorry to disappoint. the next chapter might be extra long...?

* * *

-x-

**Clary**

Her headache eventually subsided the second time she woke up during the same day. During the first, she had barely remembered anything but had slowly regained her memory.

She woke up to find nobody next to her. She couldn't explain the disappointment that flooded through her. She didn't know what she was expecting. Jace lying next to her, his arm draped around her waist, maybe?

But then she felt a little bit of relief because she probably wouldn't know how to face him when he woke up. After all, he had walked into her almost doing it with Raphael.

She looked at the clock. 3pm. Jace was most definitely at soccer practice.

Clary changed into a t-shirt and shorts. Jace had made an effort to help her change into her sleep clothes, she noticed. Her cheeks flared up at the thought.

She was about to switch on the TV for a movie when she saw Jace outside the window, his soccer jersey plastered to his skin with heat, kicking the ball forcefully into the makeshift goal in their backyard.

Without thinking, she opened the door to her house. "Jace, what are you doing? Don't you have practice?"

He turned around, his gaze resting on her, and immediately a pang of guilt shot through Clary. She took a few tentative steps towards him— and stopped, feeling as if she could go no further.

"I ditched it," He said simply, without an edge in his voice or anything. "After all, Verlac had a party until one a.m."

She flinched, and Jace seemed to notice the little movement.

"Listen, I'm in no mood to discuss anything that happened at the party, okay? If you want to, that's fine. You're welcome to talk to me about it. But if you don't, I'm just telling you now that I won't be mentioning anything about it either."

Clary swallowed, "It wouldn't be— the same. I mean, Jace, you caught me in Sebastian Verlac's house almost having socks with—"

"It'll never be the same again," Jace replied, dribbling the ball. "I'm sorry, Clary, but it— can't."

Clary stared, willing the tears not to come.

But then he turned abruptly around and grinned. "I was just kidding. Seriously, you are really gullible, Clary."

She didn't really know what happened, after that. One second she was steady on her feet, trying not to cry, and the next she had hurled herself onto Jace, slapping him playfully on the ground.

"Jace _Wayland!" _

The bastard, he was laughing. Soon she was laughing idiotically along with him, rolling around the grass like a baby.

Soon Jace had one arm snaked around her waist, pulling her into his sweaty chest.

"Annoying asshat. You bastard, that almost made me cry," Clary said, her voice muffled.

He laughed. "I really didn't think you would believe that, Clare. You usually don't believe everything I say."

"I hate you."

"I love you, too."

She froze, her face in his chest. _Wait, what?_

He stroked her mussed hair. "You know, when somebody tells you they love you, you're supposed to say it back to them."

She grinned. "Well, what if I don't love them?"

He paused for a moment. "Then you don't say it back at them. You say something different."

"Thank you," Clary said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "I love you, too."

_In a sisterly way. In a sisterly way._

-x-

Clary ended up practicing soccer with Jace, so that "she could replace him during the big game next week if he was sick".

No, more like _learning _soccer from Jace.

"No. _No. _Kick the ball with the _inside _of your foot," He instructed her, his breath warm against her neck. His hands were around her wrists, and his entire body was pressed against hers. The last thing she was paying attention to was how she was kicking the soccer ball.

"Okay. You've got it right. Now you can… _kick it!"_

She swung her foot back, hitting Jace's ankle, and kicked the ball with the inside of her foot.

It slowly rolled into the goal.

"She shoots, _annnnnd she scores!"_

"Yay," Clary said wanly. "I think it would be more suitable for me to watch from the sidelines instead of replacing you on the field, since you're the star player and everything."

He grinned. "Are you jealous?"

"No, not really. Soccer is not my thing."

"Well, are you coming, then?" Jace asked, running to retrieve the ball from the net. "To the big game next week. It's us against Idris High."

Clary shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

He grinned. "You wait and see, Clary. I'll be waving my shirt around. I won't be wearing it."

She widened her eyes. "For the whole game?"

He bit his lip. "Maybe. I don't know. We'll have to see, coach might not allow it."

"Big chance. I'm looking forward to the occasion."

He beckoned her towards him with his hand. "Come here. Now I'll teach you how to shoot _properly."_

The stupid thing did roll into the goal once or twice, and a couple hours later, when she was sweaty and exhausted, she managed to impress her stepbrother. The ball managed to fly into the goal without any disturbances.

"See, Clary? Practice. Just practice."

-x-

They decided to go to Taki's for dinner, and after seeing Kaelie, the girl who was on Jace the night before, Clary decided to ask him the question that she had always been wanting to ask him for ages.

"Hey, Jace, what do you actually like about me?"

He looked startled, and turned around to face her. "Everything."

It was Clary's turn to look startled. She thought he would say the opposite. "No, seriously, what do you like about me?"

"Everything," He repeated. "I'm not kidding. Your looks, your personality, how you looked like when I found that secret chocolate stash— Your jokes, your remarks, the way you look when you're angry— Everything." He looked up. "Why?"

She was at a loss for words.

"Why? Did someone say something to you?" He asked, putting on his concerned face.

She thought bitterly of Camille's words. "No. Nobody has. I was just wondering. But thank… thank you."

She found her face pressed into his chest the second time in two hours.

"If anyone says anything… mean to you, tell me. I'll pound them six feet under."

The strange, warm feeling spread across her body— the idea of somebody liking her crazy hair, her eyes, her body, her impulsive nature— was unfamiliar and alien. She thought Jace would pity her for it, but he seemed to sincere.

Then she was drawn to him, not because he had said nice things about her. Not only that.

She wanted to wrap her arms around his body and feel all the hard ridges of muscle, and then she could do something she had wanted to do for a very long time.

He was now smirking, obviously having noticed her intense stare. "See something you like?"

At night, when she was lying in bed, her eyes on the clock, watching the hand's every movement, it hit her.

She shouldn't be feeling that way about Jace. It wasn't sisterly love. It was wrong. It was very wrong, and was very disgusting. She had to stop.

* * *

**A/N: **well no sibling love, eh?

lmao why does this remind me of toby & jenna from pretty little liars. well back to watching that show

just say whatever you have to say, trust me, i can handle it. please review. bye. ;-;


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